Chinese Newspaper Shoes, A Step Towards Eco-friendly Fashion

A young Chinese university graduate is turning recycled newspaper into fashionable and eco-friendly shoes. The shoes not only sell in China, but also in the U.S. and Europe. Here's more.

A young Chinese designer is showing that with delicate handiwork and a lot of patience, old newspapers can be recycled into fashionable shoes.

Yang Guang, a university student from Nanjing City in Jiangsu Province (pron: jeeang soo), is not only doing brisk business in China, but is also selling in the U.S. and Europe.

Yang started his production three years ago, and sold his first pair of newspaper shoes last April.

Yang now runs a factory with more than 200 workers.

[Yang Guang, Inventor of Newspaper Shoes]:
"The shoes are completely weaved by hand. It is different from normal shoes covered by a whole piece of leather. Therefore it is more breathable. It is also more resilient as we put flexible cotton thread into the folded newspaper strips."

The uniqueness of each handmade pair has also made them popular with women.

[Chen Xiaoyan, Customer]:
"When I walked past the shop window, I saw a pair of shoes with a unique design, so I come in and take a look. The shop assistant told me the shoes were made of newspaper. I thought it was very novel so I tried them on. They are comfortable and lighter."

Yang's factory is able to produce an average of 5,000 pairs of newspaper shoes a month, all made to order.

They sell for 150 to 200 yuan in China, which is $23 to $31. But they can go for as much as $150 abroad.

Yang is confident of improved sales as people decide that environment-friendly is trendy.

[Yang Guang, Inventor of Newspaper Shoes]:
"I hope our products will go further and further as people have better awareness and understandings on environmental protection, green products and waste recycling."

Yang is now looking to expand his business to include bags and other products made from recycled newspaper.